Local legislators implored to expand Medicaid

The debate over whether Florida should accept $50 billion of federal funding to expand Medicaid as part of the Affordable Care Act is not over, if a meeting of Sarasota County’s state legislative delegation Wednesday is any indicator.

Sarasota and Manatee County community groups and social service agencies took turns imploring local legislators at the meeting to expand Medicaid, just months after legislators refused to do so.

Expanding Medicaid would provide health insurance to an estimated 1 million additional Floridians, including 35,000 in Sarasota and Manatee counties.

But in May, the Legislature adjourned for the year without taking the federal funding. The Florida Senate supported expanding it, but the House refused, citing concerns that federal funding would eventually run out, leaving Florida to cover the long-term costs.

“The House position of rejecting federal funds and using state dollars to insure far fewer individuals is unacceptable,” Kathryn Shea, of the Community Alliance of Sarasota County, told lawmakers, meeting to hear local concerns as they prepare for committee meetings in advance of the 2014 legislative session.

The committee meetings begin next week.

Shea said Florida has the third-highest number of uninsured in the nation and needs to act.

Sarasota Memorial Health Care, Planned Parenthood of Southwest and Central Florida, the Florida Chapter of the National Association of Social Workers, First Step of Sarasota and the League of Women Voters of Sarasota County were among the groups supported the Medicaid expansion.

Sarasota Memorial presented lawmakers with documentation that showed it spent $80 million to provide care to the uninsured in 2012.

State Rep. Ray Pilon, R-Sarasota, said expanding Medicaid is obviously still a hot issue and will likely be considered again.

“I think we have to go back at it again,” Pilon said after the meeting.

Rep. Doug Holder, R-Osprey, said he, too, is willing to discuss expanding Medicaid, but worries it could be a budget buster for future generations if not done properly.

“We can’t commit to things we can’t afford,” Holder said.

Rep. Darryl Rouson, a Democrat who represents part of Bradenton and northern Sarasota, said he thinks there is a chance to convince House Speaker Will Weatherford, R-Wesley Chapel, to reconsider his opposition to expanding Medicaid.

Lawmakers also heard strong opposition to changing the state’s Stand Your Ground legislation. Though the city of Sarasota called for repealing the law, officials have been inundated with emails and calls from people in support of it.

All four of the legislators in attendance on Wednesday said they opposed repealing the law. Rouson said he supports “clarification” of the law to make sure it is being applied correctly.

Legislators also heard from several parent groups opposing the implementation of a new curriculum in public schools called Common Core. Those parents said Common Core is a federal curriculum that is being forced on local schools.

Supporters of Common Core have fought against that idea, saying Common Core is only a basic set of standards for students to assure they are learning employable skills and are ready for college when they graduate high school.

Jeremy Wallace

Jeremy Wallace has covered politics for more than 15 years.
He can be reached by email or call (941) 361-4966.
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Last modified: September 18, 2013
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